HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY

• US 20040085648A1
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Tomono, Takao
• Granted Patent: US 6,751,026 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/631
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0174 holographic
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/08 with discontinuous faces, e.g. Fresnel lens diffractive Fresnel lenses G02B5/1876

Abstract

A head-mounted display (HMD) using retinal direct projection that provides a small size and lightweight by changing the configuration of optical components and optical arrangement. The HMD includes: a planar backlight for producing and emitting planar light; a light-speed controlling element positioned in front of the planar backlight for controlling the speed of incident light so that the light propagates parallel or near parallel to an optical axis; an image-forming element disposed in front of the light-speed controlling element for forming an image; and a Fresnel lens placed in front of the image-forming element for focusing the incoming incident onto an eyeball.

Claims

1. A head-mounted display comprising:

a planar backlight for producing and emitting planar light,

a light-speed controlling element disposed in front of the planar backlight for controlling a speed of incident light so that the incident light propagates parallel or substantially parallel to an optical axis;

an image-forming element disposed in front of the light-speed controlling element for forming an image; and

a Fresnel lens disposed in front of the image-forming element for focusing the image onto an eyeball.

2. The head mounted display of claim 1, wherein the light-speed controlling element is a holographic element that diffracts the incident light so that the incident light propagates parallel to the optical axis or diverges substantially parallel to the optical axis.

3. The head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the light-speed controlling element is a rubber film that refracts the incident light from the planar backlight at an angle of refraction less than an angle of incidence.

4. The head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the light-speed controlling element includes a pinhole array having a plurality of pinholes that transmit the incident light from the planar backlight and a microlens array that condenses the incident light transmitted through the plurality of pinholes.

5. The head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the planar backlight is a light-emitting element that includes at least one of the following:

organic and inorganic electroluminescence (EL) material.

6. The head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the image-forming element is a transmissive liquid crystal display.

7. A head-mounted display comprising:

a backlight that emits a planar light;

a light controlling element that transmits incident light of the planar light so that the incident light propagates parallel or substantially parallel to an optical axis;

an image-forming element that forms an image from the incident light transmitted from the light controlling element; and

a lens that focuses the image onto an eyeball of a user.

8. The head-mounted display of claim 7, wherein the lens is a Fresnel lens.